Chattahoochee County Board of Education: Lessen my daughter's punishment of having to attend an alternative school from 153 days to 60 days

My daughter, Jasmynn is a 14 year old Freshman at Chattahoochee County High School aka Chattco. On August 30, 2012 she was suspended from school for 10 days. She was apart of an incident in her Art class, in which that day a substitute teacher was teaching. During class, a majority of the students chose to take advantage of the fact they had a sub for the day and act immature and defiant. Jasmynn built a tower out of markers and proceeded to pretend it was a sword. Another student decided to video record this on his iPod. She swung it around and markers flew. Other kids followed suit and a marker fight was started. When Jasmynn threw a marker towards another student, it went in the direction of the teacher, in which another student yelled, 'Awwww you hit the teacher.' Jasmynn said, 'No I didn't!!' Then turned to the camera and whispered, 'She's a crazy bitch' The substitute yelled for everyone to stop and sit in their seats. The teacher asked for my daughter's name. Her response was, 'I don't have a name....just kidding, my name is Jasmynn.' She then walked to the front of the classroom to give the teacher her full name. After my daughter's name had been written down, the teacher then focused on the student with the iPod. She asked him to put it away, the student was defiant so the teacher walked quickly over to him. Apparently the way she walked, almost ran, to try and get the iPod from him was funny because the entire class began laughing at her. The teacher left the room in tears.

Jasmynn got suspended for 10 days, and she has no history of ever having any behavioral problems at school. She is a good girl who made a bad decision that day. In her student file, she was charged with intimidation/harassing/bullying, use of profanity, and persistent/willfull disobedience. There are no acts of bullying in this video. Nor did she harass or intimidate the teacher.

On the 10th day we attended a tribunal for the incident. Witnesses, other students in the class who were not involved were there, as well as the substitute teacher. The video that was recorded on one of the student's iPod was viewed by all in attendance. I also have a copy of this video on my home computer as evidence of what happened that day. Jasmynn received a punishment of 153 days at an alternative school. She has been attending this school for over a month now.

I understand that my daughter made a bad choice to be involved in a marker fight and to whisper to another student 'she's a crazy bitch'. She knows her behavior was very immature and disrespectful, and has since written an apology letter to that teacher. However, having her attend an alternative school for the rest of the school year, in my opinion, is an extreme punishment.

It was brought to my attention that there are a handful of new students at her alternative school. They were caught at school purchasing drugs. They too were also suspended and went through the same process we did. Their punishment for buying and doing drugs on school property (which is a misdemeanor in every state).....100 days. I had no choice but to be in agreeance with the punishment that was given to my daughter at that time. But now I am livid and disgusted with the way the tribunal board has unfairly treated my daughter. What happened that day in her Art class is in NO WAY worse than buying/doing drugs. The tribunal board's punishment for the new students shows how unbalanced and inconsistent their decision making is. They're essentially saying that buying drugs at school is not that big of a deal. Please help me by signing this petition to have her sentence lessened to 60 days. My daughter's punishment does not fit the crime....

In closing, by no means am I trying to get my daughter out of being punished. She acted inappropriately and disrespectfully, and deserves to be reprimanded. What I need this petition to show is that there needs to be a balance in how the school board punishes the students. Because as of right now, they are inconsistent and are possibly showing favoritism. I will not allow my daughter to be made an example when she is not a 'bad' kid.

For our friends and family, I have the video that was taken during Art class. If you would like to see it, by all means...contact us. I will not post it in a public forum. Whether you sign this or not, thank you so very much for taking the time to read it!

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Tiffany Bunnell needs your help with “Chattahoochee County Board of Education: Lessen my daughter's punishment of having to attend an alternative school from 153 days to 60 days”. Join Tiffany and 235 supporters today.

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Tiffany Bunnell needs your help with “Chattahoochee County Board of Education: Lessen my daughter's punishment of having to attend an alternative school from 153 days to 60 days”. Join Tiffany and 235 supporters today.